Houzz Tours
Houzz Tour: Designer’s Home Is Stylish, Serene and All in Cream
A newly built house in Massachusetts gives an interior designer a blank canvas to create the home of her dreams
Designer Shari Pellows believes that purchasing a spec home comes with certain advantages: It’s a blank canvas built to modern standards, so you can be reasonably sure that everything works as it should, and if you have an eye for style, you know that charm and character are just a few design decisions away. Pellows found her own little slice of heaven in a Massachusetts new build whose ample windows take full advantage of the bordering forest outside. Maybe it was the snow-covered woods that greeted her when she first toured the house, but she knew that dressing her new home in serene, creamy colors would be just the thing to create an inviting living and entertaining space for her and her husband.
The design process began with color and texture. “I knew that because I am so bombarded by color, pattern and texture on a regular basis that I was going to choose a very serene color palette,” Pellows says. Overall, she wanted her family and guests to feel like they were in a cloud of grays and creams.
As a “very tactile person,” she says, she also required a variety of soft textures, such as velvet and Mongolian wool. But don’t think that this home is a museum of delicate fabrics: Pellows used durable, stain-proof Crypton for her more highly trafficked upholstered furniture, such as the family room sectional. “It looks delicate but isn’t,” she says.
As a “very tactile person,” she says, she also required a variety of soft textures, such as velvet and Mongolian wool. But don’t think that this home is a museum of delicate fabrics: Pellows used durable, stain-proof Crypton for her more highly trafficked upholstered furniture, such as the family room sectional. “It looks delicate but isn’t,” she says.
The family room is an example of a room that “looks like something you can’t touch but is actually really easy to live in,” Pellows says. Her grown children visit frequently, and she tends to host a lot of company often, so designing rooms with great flow and ample, comfortable seating was important.
Pellows thought carefully about how best to divide the long family room so that both sides would be utilized equally. The layout she came up with suits her family’s lifestyle to a tee: She watches TV with the dog and the kids in the sectional, with her feet up on the ottoman, while her husband lays claim to the chaise that bridges the sectional and the sitting area, where they enjoy their morning coffee.
Pellows thought carefully about how best to divide the long family room so that both sides would be utilized equally. The layout she came up with suits her family’s lifestyle to a tee: She watches TV with the dog and the kids in the sectional, with her feet up on the ottoman, while her husband lays claim to the chaise that bridges the sectional and the sitting area, where they enjoy their morning coffee.
Some of the designer’s favorite textural elements in the room include the blown-up photo of billowing fabric above the sofa and the pair of hefty raw wood console tables from Noir on either side of the fireplace. A silk J.D. Staron rug is soft and cushy underfoot, and wool crepe draperies mounted high are lofty and diaphanous like clouds.
With so many soft, floaty textiles, Pellows needed something sculptural, so she hung two glass and gold pendant lights in the corner of the room.
Browse pendant lighting
Browse pendant lighting
Being a spec home, the house came with some of the finishes already chosen, including the kitchen cabinets, countertops and blue-gray glass subway tile backsplash.
Pellows made the kitchen her own by upgrading the room with lighting and art. The scale of the lighting adds interest to the room and plays off the warm metals in the other rooms.
The couple use the kitchen table for breakfast and more casual dinners when they’re not entertaining. It’s constructed of zinc chemically treated to look like bronze, so it’s durable.
The couple use the kitchen table for breakfast and more casual dinners when they’re not entertaining. It’s constructed of zinc chemically treated to look like bronze, so it’s durable.
Pellows and her husband use the formal dining space for dinner parties, which they host at least twice a month. The table, custom-built by a Canadian company, expands to seat 14. If the table is the star of the room, then the leather and brass chairs from CB2 are the supporting cast.
Pellows recommends “decorating your house the same way you dress: You can mix fake jewelry and real jewelry, shop at TJ Maxx and Chanel. Not every item has to be a superstar.”
Pellows recommends “decorating your house the same way you dress: You can mix fake jewelry and real jewelry, shop at TJ Maxx and Chanel. Not every item has to be a superstar.”
Pellows designed this luxurious office space for her and her staff to use when they’re not at the studio. She needed a space where she could spread out fabrics, so she created a workstation centered on a glass table that can be raised or lowered, allowing the designer to spin around from the primary desk under the window and collaborate with multiple people, standing or sitting.
She also needed to store her bags of reference materials, so she selected two display cases with solid cabinet doors on the lower half. The artwork above the desk is abstract, “a never-ending thing to interpret,” which keeps the creative juices flowing.
She also needed to store her bags of reference materials, so she selected two display cases with solid cabinet doors on the lower half. The artwork above the desk is abstract, “a never-ending thing to interpret,” which keeps the creative juices flowing.
Pellows says the No. 1 rule for the master bedroom was that it had to feel serene. The designer combined soft neutrals and bronze metals with a thick, soft silk and wool rug that soothes the feet on the way into and out of bed. The couple’s Pomeranian loves it too.
The poster bed is one of Pellows’ favorite items, imposing in its quiet glamour. And those cozy chairs off to the side are frequently used by her and her husband to watch TV. This bedroom, like the rest of the house, is “so easy to live in,” she says.
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The poster bed is one of Pellows’ favorite items, imposing in its quiet glamour. And those cozy chairs off to the side are frequently used by her and her husband to watch TV. This bedroom, like the rest of the house, is “so easy to live in,” she says.
More home tours: Apartments | Small Homes | Colorful Homes | Contemporary Homes | Eclectic Homes | Farmhouses | Midcentury Homes | Modern Homes | Ranch Homes | Traditional Homes | Transitional Homes | All
House at a Glance
Who lives here: Designer Shari Pellows and her husband
Location: Walpole, Massachusetts
Size: Four bedrooms
Pellows’ advice for creating a knockout entry is to always consider scale. “I think the reason why so many people have good experiences with designers is because designers understand scale,” she says. “They’re able to help their clients interpret the vision and what’s important to them.”
For her home’s own entry, Pellows kept it simple and artful. A bushy plant in an orb-shaped container and an 81-inch-tall statue, which signifies “Speak no evil,” draws immediate attention and helps balance out the grand staircase.